Posts – The Spinning Wheel Sleuth

Posted on February 19, 2017April 24, 2017 by development

Hand Loom Supplement #19 – April 2016

Cover of Guildcraft-Thackeray Looms Brochure, c. 1938

A Fly-Shuttle Rocker-Beater Loom

Phyllis Dean has been studying rocker-beater looms for almost 20 years. She was surprised to discover one that had a fly-shuttle mechanism built into the loom structure. She describes the unusual features of this loom and the challenges involved in restoring it.

Fly-Shuttle Rocker-Beater Loom front view

Close-up of trigger sticks

Side view

Frank Ogden, Master Weaver

Phyllis also tells us about the loom’s owner, Frank Kelsey Ogden [1868-1948], who had a weaving business in Draper, PA.

1899 Tioga County [PA] directory listing

A Weaving Apprenticeship

As part of a program sponsored by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Craig Evans and Diane Howes did a traditional craft apprenticeship at the New Hampshire Farm Museum in Milton, NH. They set up their early 19th-century looms at the museum and wove traditional fabrics with natural-dyed yarns. In the course of the year, they overcame a variety of problems with the looms.

Diane’s loom

Heddles and indigo-dyed warp

Linsey-woolsey stripe 2/1 twill

An 18th Century Weaver’s House

Diane Howes has been weaving on an old loom at the James House in Hampton, NH. Originally built by a weaver named Benjamin James in 1723, it was the home of his son and grandson who were also weavers. She tells about the house, the loom, and her adventures weaving there.

Loom at James House

Loom warped

The Nadeau Hand-Skill Loom

Sally Orgren was surprised to learn about the Nadeau Hand-Skill Loom, an all-aluminum tabletop loom designed by Elphege Nadeau in Woonsocket, RI, that was popular in the 1950s. With help from Janet Meany, she researched the history of these looms. When she acquired one, she figured out how it worked and whether it lived up to its advertisements.

Nadeau Hand-Skill loom, Model 15-N, 4 shaft

The wheel and dobby attached to the top of the castle

Close-up of dobby and pins

Guildcraft Silent Speed Loom

At a recent guild sale, Susie Henzie acquired an unusual loom marked “Guildcraft Silent Speed Loom” from Canada. Janet Meany had an instruction manual for this loom in her Loom Manual Library. The booklet gave instructions on how to work the “Magic Shedder” device, which is the outstanding feature of this loom. Susie was able to warp it and weave on it.

Mark on Silent Speed Loom

Loom warped

Weaving on loom

Guildcraft-Thackeray Looms Brochure

Doug Elliott found an advertising brochure containing the full line of Guildcraft-Thackeray looms from The Guild of All Arts, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, from around 1938. He describes the different looms and how they could be used.

Cover of brochure

Silent speed looms from brochure

Posted on February 19, 2017April 22, 2017 by development

Issue #94 — October 2016

Reels by Horton Row
Reuben Row
A Compact Click Reel
A Well-Loved Swedish Heirloom Wheel
Scandinavian Turned-Table Wheels
A Norwegian-Style Wheel With Metal Spokes

View The Highlights & Photographs From This Issue.

Reels or yarn winders, tools for measuring spun yarn into a skein of a consistent size, are much more varied structurally than spinning wheels. In this issue we will learn about some made by a Canadian wheel maker. We are shown how a reel that makes a standard-size skein had been engineered to be more compact. Sometimes popular wheel structures are simplified. We will look at an example known to be from Sweden. Another one, in the Norwegian style, contains a surprising amount of metal.

Reels by Horton Row

Over the last few years Gordon Moat has become an expert on identifying the woodworking style of the spinning wheels by Horton Row from Kemptville, ON. He recognized Row’s style on a reel that accompanied a great wheel. Further study uncovered a half dozen other examples of similar reels, and at least one has Row’s stencil.

Row reel #1

Row reel #2

Row’s stencil on reel #2

Reuben Row

While checking out a great wheel that he thought was by Horton Row, Gordon found that it was signed “R. H. ROW/ PEMBROKE.” The maker, Reuben Row, was a younger brother of Horton Row and was listed as a carpenter in the Pembroke, ON, census as late as 1901.

Great wheel marked R. H. ROW/ PEMBROKE

Reuben Row’s stencil

A Compact Click Reel

Although the reel that Eugene Klingshirn found made a 40-yard skein, it was much lower and more compact than most of the ones he had studied. He explains how it was cleverly constructed to handle the correct amount of yarn but still occupy less space.

Compact Reel

Compared to standard-size reel

A Well-Loved Swedish Heirloom Wheel

Karin Lowe has always treasured the spinning wheel that she inherited from her Swedish immigrant great-grandmother. While it looks similar to a standard wheel, it has several unusual features. When she asked about it on Ravelry, she learned there were a few other examples.

Karin’s heirloom wheel

Mark on Karin’s wheel

Scandinavian Turned-Table Wheels

One of the examples belongs to Sheila MacIsaac who describes her wheel, which is a close match to Karin’s and other Scandinavian wheels with turned tables.

Sylvia’s turned-table wheel

A Norwegian-Style Wheel With Metal Spokes

At first glance the spinning wheel Rosemary Papp found looks like the structure we have been calling Norwegian with a secondary table holding the mother-of-all. But on closer inspection she learned that it is a simplified version of that style with more metal components than is usual on spinning wheels.

Rosemary’s wheel from rear